Bath Toys!

OK, so I haven't been the happiest with bath time recently. Mom thought I needed a change in the routine, so she brought out some bath toys that were given to us by the Kochs. It was immediate fun! "This is what bath time has been missing," I thought. I sat in the tub for much longer than normal, enthralled with my new balls and fish. I even let mom soap me down pretty well. However, she brought out that pesky camera again...

Please mom, I said no naked pictures!

Whatever, it appears you are going to take some, despite what I say...

Well, if you insist on flash photography, let me show you my good side...

That was so much fun, drying off isn't even an issue anymore...

Taking some steps

On November 20th, mom put me in my crib so that I could stand while hanging on to the railing. I decided then, that it was time to show off my new skills in walking. Without help, I walked several steps while holding on to the railing. When I got to the corner, I transferred my hands and moved to the other railing. Mom may have been motivating me on the other side of the crib, but nonetheless, I was quite proud of myself.

A New Habit While Eating...

Sometimes, when mom feeds me close to bed time, I can't help but rub my eyes. It doesn't matter what is on my hands, I am simply tired. So, when I rubbed my eyes the other night while eating peas, carrots and oats, mom couldn't help but snap a few shots of my face. She promptly took out the wet wash cloth and wiped me down... I hate that part...

Playing on the floor

Now that I am trying to crawl a bit, my parents have started letting me play on the floor more. Often, mom or dad sit on the floor with me. One of my favorite things to try to grab are their shoe laces. In this picture, I actually get my hands on mom's shoe. The next thing I did was put the laces in my mouth. As you can see, I am not too pleased with the taste...

I also love to crawl up to Emma and try to touching her paws. At first, Emma was not really sure about this. Everytime I got close to touching them, she would curl her paws under, or move her legs. Now, however, she lets me grab any part of her without moving away. I think she actually likes being near me. The other day, mom walked out of the room to grab something for just a second, and Emma came into the room to lay next to my blanket and watch me. She is such a good girl. I rewarded her with a little hand holding.

Sippy Cup

Here I am learning how to use a sippy cup. Mom took off the drip valve, so I don't have to suck for the water to come out. If she is helping me drink, it is not too difficult to get the water in my mouth. But, sometimes, she lets me do it all by myself. Although it is harder to do, it is lots of fun and I get really wet!

Grandpa Matt's 50th Birthday

Mom spent weeks preparing for Grandpa's Big 50th Bash. I tried to help when I could, but many of the tasks were simply beyond my ability. Overall, the party went well. Many of Grandpa's family and friends came to celebrate. Here are a few of the highlights:

The night before the big party for Grandpa...

Getting fed by Grandma Joan:

One of my new favorite activities, airplane flying...upside down!

The party was my first experience with stranger anxiety. I wanted to stay pretty close to mom and dad.

I let Aunt April hang out with me a bit. Here I am a little tired:

When it was time to feed, I showed off all of my new skills and gained quite a crowd.

Keller came by and I was ready to play with him.

Aunt Marisa got a little play time too...

Another of my new favorite activities is pretending to be a human vacuum cleaner. I crawl around the floor looking for little things to pick up:

Hanging out with some of the fam. As you can see, I am more interested in pulling mom's hair than posing for the picture.

Vegas Baby

On Thursday, November 5th, my mom and I headed to Las Vegas to celebrate my Aunt Julia's 21st birthday and my Grandpa Matthew's 50th birthday. On the flight over, mom was a little nervous, because I started to fuss a little as we taxied on the runway. However, I quickly fell asleep when I heard the enghines start and we headed up in the air. I am not sure what happened next, because I slept until we landed in Las Vegas.

On our first night, we went to the Professional Bull Riding Championships. Dad was very smart and made mom pack some earphones for me. The arena was so noisy and full of lights, that I got a little scared at first. But, mom took me out for a minute to regroup and to get used to my earphones. I was asleep again by the second half of the riding. Everyone around us could not believe that I slept through such a loud event, but traveling had taken a lot out of me. Below are pictures of all of us at the rodeo, me in my earphones and Papa feeling my sharp teeth.

On Friday, we did a lot of walking around Vegas. I was a little thrown off with all of the stimulation. I also wasn't eating the regular food that my mom makes for me. She had to pack jars of baby food, which did not taste the same. At one point, we stopped by CVS to pick up some baby cereal to make the jar food more bland. In order to get any sleep through the day, mom had to cover my stroller with a blanket, so I couldn't see all of the lights of the Strip.

That evening, we went to New York, New York to the restaurant called the Nine Fine Irishmen. I was about over the whole Vegas seen, but thanks to Aunt April, I made it through dinner. Here I am displaying the 3 stages of drinking in Las Vegas:

1. Excitement 2. Belligerence 3. Regret

After dinner, we headed to the Bellagio to watch the water show at night. This is mom's favorite part of Vegas. She couldn't wait to show it to me, but I was asleep in the carrier by the time that we got there.

Finally, on Friday night, I needed some time to wind down. Aunt April joined us in our room for a little while, instead of going out with the others. I spent some time playing on the bed and eating some food.

Saturday, we flew out and headed home to see dad. He was as happy to see me as I was to see him!

What Halloween Was Really Like...

Since I was sick on Halloween, I spent most of the night on the couch with mom or dad. You can see my monkey costume sitting next to me below. You can also see how great I felt that night.

Halloween

So, on Halloween I had come down with my first fever/flu. These pictures were actually taken the weekend before, but mom thought they would look better than the ones where I am sick. After resting most of the day on Saturday, mom and dad dressed me up in my monkey costume, then took me to around our street to see the neighbors. I wasn't in my finest form, but I wasn't bad either. All of the neighbors loved the costume. Unfortunately, we live too close to McDonald Mansion area, so all of the neighborhood kids go over there. Our 'hood was a bit of a ghost town. Mom was disappointed, because only one group of trick-or-treaters came by. Well, we are already thinking of next year and what it is going to be like when I am walking!